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Judges dismiss review into 'Essex Boys' murder conviction

A gangland killer, serving life behind bars for the notorious 'Essex Boys' murders, has failed to convince top judges his conviction should be reviewed a second time.

Michael Steele, 68, was jailed at the Old Bailey in January 1998 alongside 49-year-old Jack Whomes, after the pair were found guilty of executing three men on isolated farmland in Essex.

Patrick Tate, Anthony Tucker and Craig Rolfe were gunned down with a pump-action shotgun fired by Whomes as he ambushed their Range Rover in Rettendon, Essex in December 1995.

The prosecution case at trial was that Steele, of Great Bentley, Essex, lured the three to the country lane and ordered Whomes to carry out the triple shooting, in the aftermath of an importation of poor-quality cannabis.

Steele has always protested his innocence, but his conviction was upheld by the Appeal Court in February and his bid for a judicial review was dismissed in the High Court today.